"The target was Canada, part of a classified 1930 strategy War Plan Red for a hypothetical war with Great Britain where the US would seek to deny it any foothold in North America. But the invasion plans, once dismissed as a fumbling historical quirk, have taken on fresh relevance as the US pivots its foreign policy to an increasingly aggressive view of its pre-eminence in the western hemisphere and turns its sights on both foes and allies."
"In early January, the fusion of economic nationalism and belligerent foreign policy championed by Donald Trump was on full display when his government ordered the capture of Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, and the US president announced on social media the US would seize control of the South American country's oil. Days after, both Trump and prominent officials spoke openly of using military force to invade and capture Greenland for its strategic position and its immense mineral wealth."
"In late January, the Globe and Mail reported that Canada's military had modelled a hypothetical invasion of Canada, suggesting guerrilla tactics, similar to those used to repel both Russian and US forces in Afghanistan, would supplant conventional war. With declarations from US officials that regional dominance is their main geostrategic objective, threats from Trump that he intends to annex Canada have rattled the country."
American strategic planning in 1930 envisioned a multipronged invasion of Canada—using poison gas munitions, seizing port cities, severing undersea cables, destroying bridges and rail lines, capturing lakeside and riverside cities, and implementing mass internments to paralyze infrastructure and blunt civilian resistance. The plan, War Plan Red, aimed for a short campaign to deny Great Britain a North American foothold. Contemporary rhetoric and actions have revived relevance, with recent orders aimed at Venezuela, public threats to seize oil, open discussions about occupying Greenland for strategic and mineral value, and Canadian modelling of guerrilla resistance to hypothetical invasions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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